


i've got a bad feeling about this

by kennysspace



Series: almost paradise - part two [7]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21809686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kennysspace/pseuds/kennysspace
Summary: almost paradise: part two - chapter seven of fifteensteve steps up to defend the kids. you're not going to let him do it alone.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Henderson Reader, Steve Harrington/Reader, Steve Harrington/You
Series: almost paradise - part two [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571503
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	i've got a bad feeling about this

this is also being updated to my tumblr. you can find it [here](https://yelennabelova.tumblr.com)

* * *

The sun was just beginning to disappear behind the horizon when Lucas arrived at the junkyard; the pink and orange streaks of color were creating a beautiful symphony in the background.

He was closely followed by Max; you instantly recognized her as Billy’s sister. You tried not to think about it.

Once they started helping with the preparations, the plan went smoothly from there. But as soon as the five of you entered the bus, that’s where everything started standing still.

Steve can tell your anxiety is starting to settle in - that’s the eleventh time you’ve checked your watch. Not like he cares in the slightest.

You take a deep breath through your nose as you push your head back against the bus wall, focusing on the ceiling before raising your voice, “Lucas?”

The boy sighs from his position on the roof, beginning to grow tired of your incessant demand for updates, “There’s nothing out there, same as when you asked ten minutes ago!”

You roll your eyes at his comment and scoff, moving your gaze to the fog that creeps in as the night’s grown colder.

“Jesus, just tone it down a bit Y/N,” Dustin adds as he spins on his heel, continuing his pacing in front of Max.

Without adjusting your eyes, you respond, “Says the one who’s been pacing for the whole two hours we’ve been stuck in this hell hole.” 

“Hey, go easy on him,” Steve says before your brother can reply, gesturing between the two of you, “None of us are excited about this either.” Your attention only moves to your watch again, corners of your mouth tilting down in a frown as the little hand strikes eight. 

You can’t believe you canceled your plans for this. You  _ should  _ be out being a stupid teenager, especially whenever those opportunities are few and far between for you.

“Excuse me if there are better ways that I’d like to be spending my time. With better company no less.” The last sentence is spoken with a lower and harsher tone, and Steve sends a rather nasty glare your way, regardless of the fact that you don’t see it. 

“Join the club, Henderson,” Steve flicks open the lid of the lighter, his tone matching yours, “I’m thrilled to be here with you too-”

“Alright, alright,” Dustin interjects as he stops in his tracks, “This was much more tolerable when you two morons were quiet.”

Both you and Steve shift in your seats at his words, your arms getting folded across your chest. As angry as you might be at him, you don’t have any interest in lashing out in front of the kids. You’d rather keep what went down between the two of you.

The silence doesn’t last very long. Max clears her throat before her gaze lands on you, “So you’ve actually fought one of these things before?”

Her eyes dart to Steve as he nods, his face is plain and expressionless as he contemplates the situation at hand. He wishes that you’d look over to him and make one of your stupid jokes, something along the lines of, “Don’t wear yourself out, you’re thinkin’ real hard over there.”

He can practically hear your voice saying it inside his head.

“And you’re both absolutely positive that it wasn’t some kind of bear?” Max continues and her expression grows shocked at Dustin’s reaction, “For Christ’s sake, don’t be an idiot. If you don’t believe us, just go home.”

“Jesus, someone’s cranky. Like sister, like brother - that’s how that goes, right?” She replies back quick as a whip before lifting her foot onto the rung of the ladder.

Your scowl only grows at her comment and Steve watches her climb up and onto the roof before moving his eyes to Dustin; he’s begun to pace again. A smirk grows on his lips as he processes the boy’s intentions, “That’s good - gotta show her you don’t care.”

“For fuck’s sake,” You mutter under your breath as your fingers move to grip the bridge of your nose. Steve scoffs before turning his attention back to you, prepared to fire back.

“Got any more shit advice to give?” Steve asks as his thumb rolls, igniting the flame on the lighter. You simply shrug your shoulders as you finally move your gaze to where he sits, jaw slacking before you answer.

“No, I’m done. I know mine works, regardless of what you idiots have to say.”

“Really?” Dustin asks and you raise a brow at him, “It worked on me, didn’t it?”

The two of them grow confused at what you imply, and you snort at the looks on their faces. It must hit them both at the same time as their heads snap to each other, and then to you.

“ _ You have a date? _ ” Dustin exclaims.

You raise your finger at him, “Correction. I was  _ supposed _ to have a date. It was for tonight, but I’m a little preoccupied, dontcha think?”

“I knew it was important!” Dustin gestures to you as he glances back to Steve, recalling the conversation from this morning. 

“So, are you gonna tell us who or…?” Steve trails off and you shake your head, “No, it’s a secret.” The two boys throw their arms up in defeat as you grin a bit, relishing in their frustration. 

“Alright alright, then lemme guess,” Steve starts, eyes trained on your face, curious to notice your reaction, “Is it that kid Jefferies?”

Your features contort in disgust, “Jesus Christ, no. I have standards, Steven.”

“Walters?”

“No!”

“Fulton?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Oh! That guy from your history class, what the hell’s his name-”

You laugh as you start to feel your cheeks heat up, “God, you think I’d go for a dumbass like Patterson? He didn’t do an ounce of that group project.” 

Before anything else can be said, a roar echoes throughout the air, and all your ears perk up at the sound. Not a muscle is moved as you all wait to see if it repeats itself; it does.

“That sounded like it was close,” Steve says as he gets to his feet, scrambling over to you before peering out the window. The tip of your nose presses against the glass as you lean in further, desperate to catch a glimpse of whatever Dart’s become. 

“What’s happening out there, Lucas?” Dustin shouts to the duo on top. Steve shifts on your left, head tilting slightly to you without bringing his focus away from outside, “You see anything?”

“No,” Your voice falters as you scour the landscape in front of you, searching diligently for any sign of movement. The adrenaline starts spreading throughout your body - nothing’s even happened yet.

“Ten o’clock! I’ve got eyes!” Lucas responds and you take a deep breath once a mysterious shape comes into view. From this distance, you hypothesize that Dart’s over doubled in size _. Again _ .

You patiently watch him begin to circle the land, barely even approaching the trap you set. He makes almost no noise at all; you wouldn’t hear if he snuck up on you.

“Why isn’t he taking the bait?” Steve asks and you’re just as confused as he is, “Maybe he isn’t hungry anymore?”

A beat passes before he answers, his eyes dropping a touch at what comes to mind, “Maybe he’s just sick of cow.” 

A silent and shallow inhale gets pulled into your lungs as a reaction, your head snapping to Steve as he steps away from the window. You instantly understand what he’s about to do; your heart drops at the thought.

“What are you doing?” Dustin starts as Steve moves to grab the bat from where it rests against the wall; he jumps in surprise when your hand comes into his view, fingers reaching out to your weapon.

It rests easily in the palm of your hand and you look up to Steve, who’s beginning to shake his head, “Woah woah woah, you’re not coming too-”

“Not a chance, Harrington,” You reply without breaking eye contact as you take a step forward, “There’s no way in hell you’re going out there by yourself.”

He swallows the lump in his throat as you shoot back with what he said to you before entering the cellar. Your jaw clenches as he takes in your unyielding features - there’s no way that you’re taking no for an answer.

Steve nods once and you repeat it instantly, a silent but fierce pact to protect each other in the face of danger. His eyes move to your brother before tossing the lighter to him, “Just get ready.”

The younger boy looks stunned as he watches the both of you move to the exit, his heartbeat hammering wildly inside of his chest, unknowingly matching yours.

“You’re not going out there, are you?” Dustin asks, pulling on your shoulder to grab your attention. You rest your hand over his as you look to him; the sincerity behind your gaze is one that your brother’s never seen before. It almost scares him.

“Whatever happens, just stay here, okay?”

“Y/N, you can’t seriously think you’re going out there-”

“Stay. Here,” You speak through gritted teeth before moving. Dustin protests behind you but don’t bother to listen. Steve pulls the bat to a raised position before turning a bit to peer over his shoulder at you. One hand grips the lever to open the folding doors, “Ready?”

Your voice is quiet but steady, “Yeah, you?”

Steve sighs as his mind flashes with images of the previous encounter with the Demogorgon, but he refuses to let it overcome him, “Yeah. Stay close.”

The cold air washes over you suddenly as your sneaker makes contact with the grass; Steve’s barely a foot in front of you. The door to the bus shuts immediately and you gulp as the both of you begin your approach, being careful to avoid the trail of gasoline.

Your senses are on high alert as you grip the lead pipe in your hands, tensing your biceps to move it upwards. The only noises that reach your ears are of the rustling branches and the crunching beneath the soles of your shoes; it makes you very uneasy.

“Hey, Steve?” You mutter, eyes flicking over his face. He doesn’t pull his focus from the creature but he still moves his head a touch in your direction, “Yeah?”

You glance slightly behind you, fright starting to become evident in your voice, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Steve scoffs lightly, “You’re tellin’ me.”

He begins to taunt at Dart, sending whistles one after the other in a chance to draw his attention. You decide to not make a snarky joke about it, as much as you want to.

Once you’ve reached the pile of vaguely rancid meat, the fog is finally clear enough for you to see exactly what you’re up against.

About fifty feet ahead stands Dart, perfectly still and your throat closes up at the eeriness of it all. The fog, the moon hanging in the sky, the nearly freezing temperature, the silence,  _ the monster _ \- you struggle to force a deep breath into your body.

Steve continues his little charade to call to the beast and he plants his feet in preparation, and you follow suit.

A small grumble comes from Dart’s mouth and you both can tell he’s getting ready too; his back arching as he takes a step towards you, and everything freezes for a moment. Your head starts to clear as your sight narrows to focus, until it stops.

The silence broke; a branch snapped behind you.

At the sound, your head moves backwards a touch to try and use your peripheral vision to see what the cause was, and what you witness causes your whole body to spin back to back with Steve.

There stands another monster, identical to Dart in shape and size, it’s posture signals that it means to attack.

“ _ Holy shit _ .”

From its right, another pops up, jumping onto the roof of a car. And then another. Your stomach lurches.

“Uh, Steve?” You say breathlessly, eyes bouncing between the three of them - until one more appears on your left. When he doesn’t respond, you nudge him with your elbow, raising your voice and forcing more power into it, “Steve?!”

“Yeah, yeah - I’m a little busy here!” Shock and horror are written all across your face as you realize that both of you are surrounded. Your plan failed - Dart was luring you out, not the other way around.

You’re the bait.

Lucas finally shouts from the top of the bus, hidden from behind his pair of binoculars, “Steve! Watch out!”

More frustrated than not, Steve wretches his attention away and he sees your face first before he follows where you’re looking - and then his expression mirrors yours.

“How many are there?” He asks, back pressing into yours as he moves to attempt to have them all within his range. Your hands adjust on your weapon, “Five? I think there’s five- wait never mind, now there’s six!” 

Dart emits a growl, pulling both your focuses. He charges, and you luckily turn back to the bus as another one’s begun to do the same.

You wind up for a hit and he flies backward at the contact, knocking into one that pounced and they sprawl out on the gravel. To your left, another one runs in your direction and the scissors pierce the creature’s flesh as you whack it. As it gets thrown into a rusty car, the previous two start to regain their strength and you subconsciously clench your jaw.

One of them bounds towards you, mouth gaping wide as you take a few steps backward, slamming the pipe into its head as it gets closer - that one doesn’t get up right away.

You were too focused that you haven’t noticed the one that stealthily comes closer until Steve shoves you out of the way, sending it flying with a hard hit. You have to dodge the next incoming creature as it draws nearer and you overshoot how much space you need. The pipe slips from between your fingers and it clatters onto the ground. 

You reach out to grab it again until one of the monsters, the one you made bleed, gets a hold of your shoe and starts to yank you backward. A groan leaves your lips when your chest slams into the ground; pain erupts outwards through your entire body, and it only heightens as you struggle. Dirt and bits of dead leaves wedge themselves underneath your fingernails as you attempt to cling to the earth, one arm reaching to your weapon.

Steve rushes over once he catches a glimpse of your situation and knocks the creature away. He quickly moves to pull you up but has to duck out of the way of another incoming attack before you can take hold of him.

Your feet almost slip as you get up - your eyes flick between the spiked bat lying on the ground and Steve struggling to regain his footing, with Dart on the prowl.

You wrap your fingers around the bat without a second thought and hit Dart away, allowing Steve a few seconds to scramble up before grabbing your wrist and sprinting back towards the bus. All of the monsters are on your tail and you’re running as fast as you can.

Dustin closes the door as soon as you both have made it back inside, collapsing into a seat on top of each other. 

“They can’t get in! There’s no way!” Lucas exclaims and as if on queue, an arm breaks through the hinge with the others scratching wildly at the sides. Steve grabs a sheet of spare metal and shoves it against the door, pressing your backs against the seat as you push all of your weight into it, desperate to keep them out. 

“Go! Get to the back of the bus!” You wave the kids away, with Dustin gripping his radio in hand to call for help. 

Steve’s improvised plan doesn’t work, and he grabs the bat from where you threw it down and begins to hit the monster’s arm while you rush to the kids. The bus shakes as they climb onto the roof, and you panic once you remember that your weapon’s outside. You turn your focus to Max, who’s frozen in fear as one of the monsters peers down at her from the skylight.

Her screams could blow out your eardrums as you pull her away by the shoulders as Steve places himself between it and Max - it’s roar sending shivers down your spine and etching fear onto your face.

And then suddenly, it stops. 

Leaving the five of you in a state of confusion and horror, all of the monsters bound off and start to retreat. You and Steve share a worried glance before you both rush to the exit, the kids following close behind.

Steve signals you with a nod and you open the door, just in time to watch two of the monsters’ tails disappear into the surrounding forest.

“Do you think you guys scared them off?” Dustin murmurs as he places a hand on your arm to steady himself, to which you briefly repeat back in order to comfort him. 

“No, no way,” Steve answers as he slings the bat over his shoulder and you grab your weapon from its position in the grass, “They’re definitely heading somewhere else.”

You finally allow a breath to be pushed through your lungs before gesturing out to the horizon, “Come on, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Let’s go find ‘em.”


End file.
